Oh gosh... I was looking to do both. I want to sync the recorder with my camcorder while I'm shooting on set... And I want to do voice over narration. I have been watching this channel on Youtube...

I just don't know enough about sound equipment to even start shopping. Ultimately I'm going to have a dSLR that does video. Then have a good audio setup and save my junk HD handycam for multicam shots.

I recommend using a clapboard for syncing your audio to the video. It's simple and reliable. Look for the spike of the "clap" on the audio waveform and sync that with the closing of the board. You MAY have to compensate for distance if the microphone is physically located far away from the clapboard since it takes time for sound to travel (1,130ft. per second). If this will be the case, make sure you measure your distance from the clapboard to the microphone. Add 1.13 milliseconds of delay per foot of distance and you should be golden.

The Zoom H4n gets a lot of love on this forum and others I frequent. For what you are looking to do, I would stay far away from any recorder that lacks XLR inputs.

How much money do you have available to spend on this recorder? DO you have any microphones yet?